Once Upon a Time in the Distant Future
by Tagalong
Summary: SPOILERS FOR ENDGAME! READ NO FURTHER IF YOU HAVE'NT SEEN IT! Wally didn't really die at the end of Endgame. Instead, he was mistakenly brought into the future by Impulse's best friend. Will he ever get back to the present? Takes place in season 2, post Endgame (duh) It has an main character OC, but only because I had to. It's mostly about Wally.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N For the record. WALLY'S NOT DEAD! WHO'S WITH ME!? Now that that's out of the way... I was in denial this afternoon, and I thought it looked like Wally was being Zeta'ed when he 'died', and thus (with a little help from my little sis): this was born. **

Kid Flash could feel himself slipping as he ran around and around the device, trying to help Flash and Impulse save the world. He knew seconds before he disappeared he wouldn't survive much longer. His biggest regret was not being able to tell Artemis he loved her one last time. He managed to get some last words to his uncle before he vanished into oblivion.

It was strange. Death didn't feel like Wally thought it would. He had always thought that once you were dead, you wouldn't feel agonizing pain throughout your entire body. It didn't even occur to him he might still be alive. He had heard Blue Beetle say he wouldn't make it; he had felt his body deteriorating, so he couldn't possibly still be alive, could he?

One thing was for sure, if he _was _dead, death was _loud_. And painful. Every bone in his body ached like he had been run over by a Monster Truck, smacked with a crowbar, and then thrown off a cliff for good measure. It seemed to Wally like he was getting one heck of a terrible death.

"Dude! Wake up!"

Why were there voices in the afterlife? Wasn't it supposed to be peaceful and quiet?

"C'mon Bart! Get up!"

Why was Bart here? Was he dead too?

"I really don't wanna do this, but-"

Wally was slapped in the face. "Owww…" he moaned.

"Sorry dude. Now just open your eyes," came the voice again.

Wally cracked open one bright green eye.

"You're not Bart," the girl said again.

"And you're a genius," replied Wally. At least his sarcasm was still working.

"Oh man, you guys look a lot a like, and you were in the same location as Bart. I meant to grab him, but everything was so confusing! Sorry." The girl thought for a moment. "Who're you?"

"I could ask you the same question," replied Wally. Hanging out with Robin for so long had made him a little paranoid- especially since Nightwing had started the dangerous lying game that had almost lead to Artemis' death.

"Sorry, I guess you wouldn't really trust me after I grabbed you out of your time. I'm Hayley, Bart's best friend," she said. "I meant to bring him back, but he must have been moving too fast too close to you and I miscalculated."

Wally was skeptical, but this girl- Hayley- seemed to be his only chance to get home. After all, she _had _brought him here, so she should be able to put him back in his own time- because if she was Bart's best friend, he had to be in the future.

He finally decided to tell her his name. "I'm Wally. I'm Bart's… cousin?" Wally had never really put any thought into how he was related to the younger speedster. "So am I really in the future?"

"Yup!" replied Hayley. "Welcome to 2056."

The younger girl was telling the truth- or at least Wally didn't think she was lying. "Can you put me back in the past?"

"Um…"

"You can't." It was a statement. Wally had had his doubts when he asked, but Hayley's response had confirmed his fears. "How'd you even get me here in the first place?"

"Bart left some notes when he went to your time, and I just reverse engineered his design."

Wally opened his mouth to respond, but Hayley continued.

"Unfortunately all the schematics were lost when the machine exploded and you flew out. It'll take me years to redo it." She looked at Wally for a reaction.

Wally was devastated. Now he'd never get home. All of his friends were going to think he was dead! And, if he ever got back, Artemis was going to kill him for putting her through all the trauma of mourning him. Not to mention what Dick would do to him.

He was about to yell at the girl, but then he looked at her. The smaller girl looked like she was about to cry. She actually looked kind of pathetic- short with stringy brown hair in a messy ponytail.

"It's not your fault, kid."

"Yes it is! I tried to get my friend back, and I ended up ruining your life!" the girl exclaimed.

Oh great, she really _was_ crying now. "Did Bart have any help when he made his original machine?" Wally said quickly, trying to distract her. If Artemis had been here she would have smacked him for not being comforting. Wally really wanted to go home, and he was going to explore every opportunity to do just that.

"He didn't really talk about it much," replied Hayley. She had stopped crying, but was still sniffling a little. "He did mention Nathaniel Tryon though."

Wally did a little mental celebration. "That's great! Where is he?"

Hayley shifted nervously. "In a maximum security prison."

Wally's jaw dropped. "WHAT!?"

"In your time he was the villain Neutron. I read about him in my History book. You guys fought him once?"

"Is there anything else you want to drop on me?" asked Wally.

"No, I don't think so," answered Hayley. "Can you walk yet? If we want to talk to Nate we need to go now. Visiting hours end soon."

Wally stood up shakily. "Yeah, I think so. Let's go."

"Don't you want to change first?" asked the petite brunette. "That bright yellow suit makes you stand out a little."

"Oh, right," replied Wally, embarrassed.

It was a long walk to the prison, giving the pair plenty of time to talk.

"So what were you doing when I pulled you out of your time?" questioned Hayley.

"Dying," replied Wally, smirking at her horrified look. "So I guess I really should thank you for bringing me here."

"Why were you dying!?" she asked, still shocked.

"I was absorbing a bunch of radiation trying to save the Earth from destruction." Wally was having a little too much fun telling this to the younger girl.

"How old are you?" she asked.

"Twenty-one. You?"

"Thirteen," she replied. "So you're telling me that you're not even out of college and you've already saved the world?"

"Several times," answered Wally smugly.

"We're here," said Hayley.

They both looked up at the towering walls of the prison that housed the man who could determine Wally's future.

**A/N So, there you have it. My version of Wally not being dead. Chapter 2 will be posted whenever I finish it. How fast I write has a lot to do with the number of reviews I get so... Questions? Comments? REVIEW! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N I'm back! Sorry for the wait... I don't really have an excuse. Anyway, thanks to Kamil the Awesome, RememberTheMuse, readingisdabest, and The February Rose for reviewing. You people rock! Thanks to the people who favorited and followed this too. All of you people make me remember there are actually living beings who care about what I write. Thanks so much. Kamil the Awesome, don't worry, I watch GLTAS too. And RememberTheMuse? Your review partially inspired this chapter, so thanks so much. And now for the story:**

Wally and Hayley walked into the prison with no plan whatsoever. This turned out to be a bad idea. They tried to walk straight into where the prisoners were, thinking it'd be easier to find Nathaniel in the relatively small jail than to explain to the guards why two random kids were trying to visit a highly dangerous criminal.

That plan failed. "And what do you two kids think you're doing?" asked a guard.

Wally and Hayley looked at each other guiltily. Hayley spoke first. "We wanted to see Nathaniel Tryon."

The guard looked confused, though she hid it well. "Who?"

"You know, highly dangerous criminal, tried to kill the Flash, sentenced to life in _this _prison?" answered Hayley.

"I'm not sure who you're talking about, but you two will have to come with me."

"How come!?" exclaimed Wally. He could only stay quiet for so long.

"Technically, you tried to break into prison. It's against the law," the woman replied impatiently. "Now come on. Neither of you look old enough to be wandering around a prison alone."

"Hey! I'm-" Wally was cut of by Hayley slapping her hand over his mouth.

"Don't tell her your age, dummy. She can't throw you in jail if she thinks you're a minor," hissed the younger girl.

"Right…"

"What was that?" interrupted the guard, raising an eyebrow.

Wally thought quickly. "I was going to say that I was her babysitter, but she doesn't like people knowing that." That little fib was rewarded with a stomp on the toe, courtesy of Hayley.

Despite the somewhat obvious lie, the guard bought it, and led them into an office- hers presumably.

"Have a seat," the woman ordered. The pair complied. "Now, tell me your names, ages, and why you _really _tried to get into the prison."

"Well, I'm Wally, I'm seventeen -" he glanced at Hayley who gave him a small approving smile- she obviously approved he had picked up on her idea that 'younger people don't get in as much trouble', "and we really _did _want to see Nathanial Tryon, but we must have come to the wrong place."

The guard nodded. "And you, young lady?"

"I'm Hayley, I'm ten, and I was just following Wally's orders. He needed to see Mr. Tryon for a school project," Hayley lied. "Who're you?"

"I'm Tiffany Waller, but you'll call me 'Ms. Waller'."

Wally's eyes widened. "Waller? As in Amanda Waller?"

"Yes, she was my mother. Why?" replied Ms. Waller.

"No reason," said Wally, a bit too quickly.

The guard narrowed her eyes. "Why. Do. You. _Care_."

"I don't. I just remember hearing her name somewhere," lied Wally. He actually knew her from the mission briefing the Team had been given by M'gann and Conner after their stint at Belle Reve Penitentiary masquerading as the Terror Twins.

"Right," deadpanned Tiffany. She then seemed to realize it was futile to try and get a straight answer out of Wally, so she changed subjects. "Well, since you two are both too young for me to get you into any serious trouble, I'll just call your parents and let them decide the punishment. After all, this is a school day," Ms. Waller said. "I'll need your last names and phone numbers.

Wally and Hayley looked at each other. He didn't know what Hayley's story was, but he was pretty sure even if he even _did exist _in this timeline, he'd be dead. That was problematic. Obviously. It was one thing to explain why they tried to break into a prison. It was a completely different thing for him to explain how he was suddenly alive again after forty-ish years of non-existence.

"Can we get some water?" asked Hayley, channeling every bit of the childish cuteness she possessed. Which was actually pretty easy for her, seeing as she looked all of ten years old. "I'm kinda nervous about how my parents are gonna punish me."

Tiffany took pity on them, and directed them to the water cooler, incidentally within full view of her desk. "You have two minutes."

They both calmly walked over to the cooler. As soon as they were out of earshot, they began to plot.

"Lousy escape plan Hayley," hissed Wally. "She can see us."

Hayley rolled her eyes as she casually poured herself a cup of water. "That wasn't the plan, dummy. I just wanted to talk where that Waller woman couldn't hear us." She took a sip of her now full paper cup of water. "There's no way she's letting us go without talking to our parents. I don't know what you think, but I have the idea that it's not going to go over well with her when she finds out you died forty years ago!" While Wally got his own water, the younger girl continued. "Any ideas?"

"Can't we just say I'm your brother?" asked Wally.

"Really?" Hayley asked flatly. "We look nothing alike, and shouldn't my parents _know _they have a son?"

"Right. Well, I could just run us out of here," suggested Wally, refilling his little paper cup.

"And reveal you're the hero from- shall I repeat- forty years ago. There were only four Flashes as far as I know: the original, the one in red, Bart, and _you_. It wouldn't take a genius to figure out which one ran out of here."

"Okay… We could tell the truth and escape on the way to a mental hospital," Wally threw out.

"As sad as it is, I think the truth is actually our best option," admitted Hayley.

Tiffany Waller walked up to them. "Time's up. Back to my office, kids." Wally bristled at the 'kids' comment, but followed obediently. They reclaimed their seats from before the short plotting session/water break.

"Now. Full names and phone numbers," ordered Ms. Waller.

"Okay, but first we have something to tell you. The truth," said Hayley. She turned to Wally. It was apparently his turn to speak now.

"Right, the truth. My full name is Wallace West, and I'm pretty sure I've been listed as dead since 2016."

Tiffany stared as Hayley continued. "He would have really been dead, but I brought him into the future- well, our time- and he wants to go back to the past and we think Nathanial Tryon can help us with that."

Ms. Waller rolled her chair away from her desk. She opened her mouth and then closed it again. Hayley and Wally watched in nervous anticipation as the guard thought over her next words.

"Let me check your story," was what she finally said.

"Really?" asked Wally incredulously. "You believe us?"

The woman sighed. "We live in a world of super-powered humans, teleportation devices, and villains who try and take over the Earth on a daily basis. Why _couldn't_ someone have time jumped?" The pair had to agree with that line of thinking. Tiffany pulled out her laptop. "Come on around to this side of the desk. We might as well do this together."

The pair circled around to stand beside Tiffany; Wally on her right and Hayley on her left. They watched as she opened up Google and typed in 'Wallace West obituary 2016'. Sure enough, Wally's obituary showed up almost immediately.

"Alright, Wallace West really did die in 2016, and you certainly look like him, but all this proves is that you know of someone who died," said Ms. Waller. "Do you have any other information that could help?"

Hayley pointed at the screen. "Look at this part, where it says 'survived by'. Could we find and ask one of them?"

"That seems to be a good place to start. How about his girlfriend, Artemis?" suggested Tiffany.

Wally shuddered. "Can we please not ask Artemis? She'd destroy me."

"Why not?" asked Hayley. "You probably spent more time with her than you did your parents, right?"

"Well, recently, yes…" trailed off Wally. "But-"

Tiffany interrupted him. "But nothing. She seems to be our best choice. She would be the youngest, and probably easiest to reach. And, according to you, should know you best. And … here's her address, right here. We'll Zeta to Gotham right away." With that said, she stood up and walked out the door, trusting Wally and Hayley enough to follow her without orders.

"We're Zeta-ing?" Wally asked Hayley, confused. As far as he knew, Zeta tubes were only available to League and Team members.

"Yeah, they're available to everyone now," replied the girl.

It was a quick five-minute walk from the prison to the Zeta station. The public stations had changed tremendously in the forty years Wally had time jumped. Whereas they used to be hidden in out-of-order telephone booths and other abnormal places, now the stations were out in the open and looked similar to train stations.

"Quit gaping," said Hayley, smirking. "These aren't even the nice ones."

The three Zeta-ed to one of the stations near Artemis's apartment. Ms. Waller confidently walked up the stairs to the door of Artemis's apartment and knocked.

**A/N Well? What did you think? I'll try and get the next chapter up more quickly, but I have a ridiculous amount of homework I procrastinated on so... yeah... Any ideas for how Artemis reacts to seeing Wally again would be greatly appreciated; it'll be pretty hard for me to come up with an idea without it turning into a retelling of Captain America's story. Review please!:)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N Hi... it's been... a while *laughs nervously*. It took me a while to figure out Artemis's reaction even with reviewer help, and my little sister has discovered Minecraft, so I barely get to use the computer. Thanks for waiting. RememberTheMuse, readingisdabest, and Kamil the Awesome all reviewed again last chapter, which I appreciate TONS. Thank you! Now, I think you've been waiting long enough, so here's chapter three:**

After Ms. Waller knocked, Wally flinched slightly. He was irrationally terrified of seeing his girlfriend after being presumed dead for forty years. As it turned out, he had nothing to be afraid of: Artemis wasn't home.

Wally was insanely relieved. Now all he had to do was convince his two companions to give up on the Artemis lead and go talk to someone else. "Oh well, no one's home. I guess we'll have to try again with someone who won't want to kill me. Such a disappointment-"

"We aren't going anywhere young man," interrupted Tiffany. "We're just going to stay here until she gets home." That being said, the woman sat down on the steps leading up to Artemis' apartment with a posture that said, '_just try and go against me_'.

"But we're in _Gotham_!" exclaimed Wally. "Isn't it still dangerous here?"

"Of course, but you're a big, bad superhero," said Hayley. "You'll protect us."

"But-"

"Quit being such a pansy. She's not gonna kill you. I mean, how violent can a sixty-ish woman be anyway?" said Hayley.

"Plenty violent," interrupted an old woman holding a bag of groceries out on the sidewalk.

Wally's eyes widened as he realized who the woman was. The once blond ponytail was now tied up in a tight gray bun, and she had quite a few wrinkles, but Wally knew without a doubt this woman was Artemis. She seemed to know who he was too.

"Wally?" asked Artemis.

"Wait, who's this?" asked Hayley.

Wally completely ignored his younger companion and nodded with a completely terrified expression on his face.

The old woman's face changed from one of happy bewilderment to one of complete and utter fury in the space of five seconds.

"Where have you been?"

It terrified Wally how calm Artemis sounded. He knew from experience this particular combo of furious face and scarily calm voice meant extreme pain on his end.

"Well, you see, it's kind of a funny story," Wally stammered.

"Funny?" Artemis slowly placed her groceries on the sidewalk, and bent down to grab something out of one of the discarded bags. At first, Wally feared it was her bow but, as it turned out, that something was a carton of eggs. Wally had a bad feeling in his stomach as she opened the carton with a slightly sadistic look on her face. She took one of the eggs and started to calmly toss it between her hands.

This action was the tipping point that caused Tiffany and Hayley to simultaneously realize who the old woman was, and to understand why Wally was so opposed to using her as a verification source. The two females silently inched away from the redhead as to not get caught in the crossfire between man and angry girlfriend. They had gotten away just in time too, because Artemis seemed to have shaken out of her calm period and had begun to pitch eggs at Wally.

"Tell me. IS THIS FUNNY?"

Wally was trying his best to avoid the eggs, but Artemis's aim trumped his speed. He frantically shook his head in a vain attempt to get her to stop egging him. It didn't work. When she ran out of eggs, she began throwing other groceries, this time with added insults.

"JERK-FACED LOSER!" Wally dodged a cabbage.

"LYING SNEAK!" A stalk of broccoli hit the speedster.

"YOU." Banana.

"MADE." Block of cheese.

"ME THINK." Two bags of chips.

"YOU WERE." A couple stalks of asparagus.

"_DEAD_!" A box of cupcakes.

After Artemis had finally run out of groceries to abuse Wally with, the man felt it safe to approach her. "Artemis? It's not my fault, I-"

"Not your _fault_!? How is this not your fault!? You disappeared for forty _years_! You _disintegrated_! You- you- you _left _me!"

Wally probably shouldn't have been surprised to see tears start coming out of Artemis's eyes. He also should have tried and comforted the woman. Or even have just kept his mouth shut. But old habits died hard, and Wally still valued food over most other things. He walked back to the porch and scooped the slightly dented box of cupcakes up. Then he returned to Artemis's side.

"Should you really have disrespected the cupcakes like that? I mean, I understand being mad at me, but why take it out of this box of sweet, sugary deliciousness? What did the cupcakes ever do to you?"

Wally was relieved when Artemis didn't punch him. In fact, the former archer did almost the exact opposite. She leaned over and gave the egg-covered speedster a light peck on the cheek and started laughing through her tears.

"I missed you so much," she whispered.

Wally and Artemis were oblivious to the world around them as they tried to catch up on what they had missed in each other's lives. At least, they were until Tiffany coughed slightly.

"Not to break up this touching reunion, but can I take this reaction to mean that this man really is Wallace West, and you are his former girlfriend, Artemis Crock?"

"Yeah, you can," said Artemis, her tears and smile instantly gone. Apparently, time hadn't changed her wary nature. "Now why do you need to know?" Before Tiffany could respond, Artemis continued. "You know what? I have the feeling that this will be a long story, so why don't you guys come in and Wally can clean up before he starts talking. And he _will _talk."

"But what about all the food?" asked Hayley. "We can't just leave it out here."

"You wanna clean it up? Go right ahead. But there are worse things than egg on Gotham streets, so I don't think anyone will mind," said the woman. Hayley nodded in understanding, and the trio followed Artemis into her apartment.

Once inside, Artemis immediately directed Wally to her bathroom. After he left the room, she turned to Hayley and Tiffany. "Do we really need him here for your part of the story? It'll probably go a lot quicker if he's not interrupting every three seconds."

Even though Hayley had only known Wally for a few hours, she had to agree. "Nah, let's get started. Alright, so it all started a couple months ago, when Bart went back to your time…"

**WallyWallyWally**

As Hayley told the story of their afternoon, Wally had a lot to think about while he showered. He had reunited with Artemis, which in and of itself was a mind-boggling thought: what had passed as a day for him had been forty years for her. And of course, there was also the fact that his girlfriend was now sixty, whereas he was still only twenty-one. It made for a potentially _very _awkward relationship- if they could even still have one.

There was also the question of whether or not he'd ever get back to the past. His present. 2016? Even with his understanding of many complex principals, the science of time travel had always confused him. Anyway, even if he did get back, would he even remember his time in the future? And if he did, how would the twenty-one-year-old Artemis respond. As crazy as her sixty-year-old self had acted, Wally knew her well enough to be sure that her reaction in 2056 would look like a nice hug in comparison to how badly 2016 Artemis would injure him.

But what if- Wally stopped his train of thought. He was starting to get a headache, and besides, he had already been in Artemis's shower too long. He turned the water off and dusted his clothes off into her trashcan. The egg wasn't really coming out of his t-shirt, but most of the rest of the food Artemis had thrown in her temper tantrum hadn't stained it at all.

Once he finished dressing and looked mostly presentable Wally walked back into the living room. He arrived just as Hayley was finishing her tale.

"… and then we showed up at your house."

Wally took a seat on the couch next to Hayley. Even though they had only known each other for an afternoon, they had become a sort of team.

Artemis was silent. Wally and Hayley nervously exchanged glances. "Well?" Hayley ventured.

"I think…" began Artemis while everyone leaned forward. "That we should find this Nathanial Tryon person and try and get Wally back to 2016."

Wally and Hayley high-fived, and Tiffany gave a slight smile. Wally had known she would warm up to him eventually, and now it looked like she was along for the ride.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to Wally. "Hold on. _We_?"

"Of course. You didn't think I'd let you do it alone, did you?" replied Artemis, smirking.

Wally broke out into a huge smile. With Artemis, Hayley, and Tiffany on his side, he would definitely find Nathanial and make it back to 2016… he hoped.

**A/N Tada! Chapter three done and posted. If anyone has any suggestions or questions, please leave them in a review. ****Now to start working on the next chapter before someone finds out where I live and hunts me down ;) **


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